TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

The modern-day club was formed in 1945, when gymnastics club Turnverein Hoffenheim (founded 1 July 1899) and football club Fußballverein Hoffenheim (founded 1921) merged. At the beginning of the 1990s, the club was an obscure local amateur side^{[according to whom?]} playing in the eighth division Baden-Württemberg A-Liga.^{[citation needed]} They steadily improved and by 1996 were competing in the Verbandsliga Nordbaden (V).

Around 2000,^{[vague][when?]} alumnus Dietmar Hopp returned to the club of his youth as a financial backer.^{[citation needed]} Hopp was the co-founder of software firm SAP and he put some of his money into the club. His contributions generated almost immediate results:^{[according to whom?][original research?]} in 2000 Hoffenheim finished first in the Verbandsliga and was promoted to the fourth-tier Oberliga Baden-Württemberg.^{[citation needed]} Another first-place finish moved the club up to the Regionalliga Süd (III) for the 2001–02 season.^{[citation needed]} They finished 13th in their first season in the Regionalliga, but improved significantly the next year, earning a fifth-place result.

Hoffenheim earned fifth and seventh-place finishes in the next two seasons, before improving to fourth in 2005–06 to earn their best result to date. The club made its first DFB-Pokal appearance in the 2003–04 competition and performed well,^{[according to whom?]} advancing to the quarter-finals by eliminating 2. Bundesliga sides Eintracht Trier and Karlsruher SC and Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen before being put out themselves by another 2. Bundesliga side, VfB Lübeck.

Negotiations to merge TSG Hoffenheim, Astoria Walldorf, and SV Sandhausen to create FC Heidelberg 06 in 2005 were abandoned due to the resistance of the latter two clubs, and the failure to agree on whether the new side's stadium should be located in Heidelberg or Eppelheim.^{[citation needed]} Team owner Hopp clearly ^{[according to whom?]} preferred Heidelberg, but could not overcome the resistance of local firm Wild, which had already reserved the site of the planned stadium for its new production facilities.

In 2006, the club sought to improve its squad and technical staff by bringing in players with several years of Bundesliga experience, most notably Jochen Seitz and Tomislav Marić, and young talents^[tone] like Sejad Salihović, while signing manager Ralf Rangnick, who managed Bundesliga teams such as SSV Ulm 1846, VfB Stuttgart, Hannover 96 and Schalke 04, to a five-year contract. The investment paid off in the 2006–07 season with the club's promotion to the 2. Bundesliga after finishing second in Regionalliga Süd.

The 2007–08 season was Hoffenheim's first season in professional football.^{[citation needed]} After a weak start with three losses and only one draw in the first four games, the team's performance improved remarkably^{[why?][according to whom?]} and Hoffenheim climbed from 16th place on matchday four to second place on matchday 23.^{[citation needed]} The team defended their place until the end of the season, having scored 60 points after matchday 34.^{[citation needed]} As a result of their second-place finish, they received automatic promotion to the Bundesliga, the highest tier in German football, after playing in the 2. Bundesliga for just one season.

Hoffenheim recorded a 7th-place finish in their debut season in the Bundesliga, Germany's top division. The club's best players of the season were Vedad Ibišević and Demba Ba, who scored 18 and 14 goals respectively.^[vague][1] In the 2009–10 Bundesliga, the club had a less successful season, recording a finish outside of the top 10, finishing 11th.^[2] The club finished in consecutive 11th places for the next two seasons.^[3][4] In the 2012–13 Bundesliga, the club came very close to suffering^[tone] relegation, after a 16th-place finish, meaning they would have to play in the relegation play-offs to survive; the club went on to beat their opponents Kaiserslautern by a scoreline of 5–2 on aggregate over two legs, with Roberto Firmino scoring two goals in the first leg.^[5][6][7] In the 2013–14 Bundesliga, the club had strange^{[according to whom?]} statistics; being the third best goalscoring team in the league, but also the worst defensive team, scoring 72 goals and conceding 70.^[8] The club's best goalscorer of the season, also their best assist provider, was Roberto Firmino, scoring 16 goals and providing 12 assists, with the player winning the Bundesliga Breakthrough Player of the Season award.^{[vague][9][10][11]} In the 2014–15 Bundesliga, the club came very close to qualifying for the Europa League, with just two points separating them from Borussia Dortmund, who were in 7th place. Despite the 8th-place finish, Hoffenheim still had a goal difference of −6 in the 2014–15 season.^[12] In the 2015–16 Bundesliga, the club once again came close to suffering^[tone] relegation, with just one point separating them from the relegation play-offs.^[13]

In the 2016–17 season, new coach Julian Nagelsmann took over,^[14] beginning to recruit several new players, including Andrej Kramarić, Kerem Demirbay and Sandro Wagner.^{[vague][15][16][17]} Initially, the club struggled for form, with four draws in the first four games of the season,^[18] before a rise in form rose the club to 3rd place in the league by the end of October.^[19] On 4 April 2017, the club beat Bayern Munich by a scoreline of 1–0, one of the most significant wins in the club's history.^{[according to whom?][20]} On 21 April 2017, the club confirmed that they would play European football next season following a 1–1 draw with Köln.^[21] Following a 4th-place finish in the 2016–17 Bundesliga, Hoffenheim confirmed Champions League football for the 2017–18 season.^[vague][22] The club were eventually^[vague] drawn to play six-time European champions Liverpool in the play-off round.^[23][24] The club lost the first leg by a scoreline of 1–2, before a 4–2 loss in the second leg confirmed Hoffenheim's elimination from the tournament, as the club lost 3–6 on aggregate.^[25][26] Due to their elimination from the play-off stages, the club would continue playing European football in the Europa League group stages; however, the club would suffer^[tone] elimination from the tournament as they would finish bottom of their group.^{[clarification needed][27]}

In the 2017–18 Bundesliga season, Hoffenheim had a successful^{[according to whom?]} season, finishing third, automatically qualifying for the next year's Champions League.^[28]

The 2018–19 season was more disappointing^{[according to whom?]} for Hoffenheim, as they finished bottom of their Champions League group with only 3 draws and 3 losses whilst playing against the likes of^[tone] Manchester City, Lyon and Shakhtar Donetsk. This meant that they did not make it out of the group stages of a European competition again. In the Bundesliga, Hoffenheim didn't fare much better, finishing a disappointing^{[according to whom?]} 9th place, 6 places below their ranking of 3rd during the 2017–18 campaign with 51 points. This was just two places and 3 points away from the Europa League qualifying rounds. In the DFB-Pokal, Hoffenheim were eliminated by RB Leipzig in a 2–0 loss with two goals from Timo Werner. The season's top scorer was Andre Kramarić,^{[clarification needed]} with the Croatian finding the goal^[vague] 22 times in 37 appearances. The German Kerem Demirbay had the most assists with 11 assists during the 2018–19 season.^[vague] Head coach Julian Nagelsmann left the club to join RB Leipzig at the end of the season. Alfred Schreuder, former assistant coach under Huub Stevens and Julian Nagelsmann was appointed as the new head coach.

As of 3 July 2024^[29]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
27	FW	CRO	Andrej Kramarić
32	DF	NED	Melayro Bogarde
34	DF	FRA	Stanley Nsoki
35	DF	GER	Tim Drexler
36	GK	ISL	Lúkas Petersson
37	GK	GER	Luca Philipp
39	MF	GER	Tom Bischof
40	MF	GER	Umut Tohumcu
—	DF	HUN	Attila Szalai
—	MF	GER	Muhammed Damar
—	MF	GER	Julian Justvan
—	MF	MLI	Diadie Samassékou
—	FW	KOS	Fisnik Asllani
—	FW	DEN	Jacob Bruun Larsen

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	GER	Bambasé Conté (at Karlsruher SC until 30 June 2025)

Before being promoted to the Bundesliga in 2008, the club played in the Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion, which was built in 1999 with a capacity of 5,000 (1,620 seats).

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim made their lofty ambitions clear^[tone] in 2006, when the club's management decided to begin building the new 30,150 seat Rhein-Neckar-Arena suitable for hosting Bundesliga matches.^{[citation needed]} The stadium was originally to be built in Heidelberg before the selection of a site in Sinsheim.

They opened their first season in the Bundesliga at the 26,022 capacity Carl-Benz-Stadion in Mannheim, and played their first match in their new stadium on 31 January 2009.^[30]

Interwetten had agreed to be the stadium's betting partner for TSG Hoffenheim in August 2017 until 2020.^[vague][31]

Dietmar Hopp's financial support, which transformed Hoffenheim from a local amateur club into a competitive Bundesliga club, has been strongly criticized by other clubs, fans and some in the German press.^{[according to whom?]} The main points of criticism are the club's purported lack of tradition and a historically large fanbase, as the club is a historically insignificant side from a village of just 3,300 inhabitants.^{[citation needed]} This situation is similar^{[original research?]} to that of now-defunct Scottish side Gretna and German clubs VfL Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig, as those teams also received large financial support; Wolfsburg is wholly owned and supported by automobile manufacturer Volkswagen, Bayer Leverkusen by pharmaceutical company Bayer and RB Leipzig by Red Bull.

On 16 August 2011, the club released a statement regarding complaints of a loudspeaker that was strategically placed under away fans during a home game against Dortmund. The loudspeaker was designed to drown out the noise of the away fans cheers and chants during the game. It was reported^{[by whom?]} that the speaker was placed by the groundskeeper, although the club denied any involvement, saying he acted alone. It was also reported^{[by whom?]} that the loudspeaker was used during other games, not just the home game against Dortmund.^[32]

In a later statement,^[when?] the club admitted that the disruptive sound assembly has been used at least five times, although club officials claim to have no knowledge of these measures.

On 29 February 2020, Bayern Munich supporters unfurled an offensive banner^[vague] aimed at Hoffenheim owner Dietmar Hopp, resulting in the match being suspended with less than 15 minutes left to play. After concerns^{[by whom?]} that the game could be abandoned, both teams returned to finish the match, but had decided to just run down the clock to end the game in solidarity with Hopp. Rather than play on, the two teams began passing the ball between each other and chatting as if they were all teammates.

The very next day,^[vague] the Bundesliga match between Vfl Wolfsburg and 1. FC Union Berlin was stopped at the 44th minute of play due to derogatory banners once again^[vague] being unfurled, one of which showed Hopp under crosshairs. The two teams left the field and returned 10 minutes later to play out the remainder of the 1st half and subsequently the game.^[33]

On 25 September 2020, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim signed a partnership agreement with MLS club FC Cincinnati.^[34]Hoffenheim also have a partnership agreement with a Ghana premier League side Accra Hearts Of Oak. Making it a three club value alliance on 20 September 2020.

The club's honours:

• German Under 19 championship
  • Champions: 2013–14^{[citation needed]}
  • Runners-up: 2014–15, 2015–16^{[citation needed]}
• German Under 17 championship
  • Champions: 2007–08^{[citation needed]}
• Under 19 Bundesliga South/Southwest
  • Champions: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16^{[citation needed]}
• Under 17 Bundesliga South/Southwest
  • Champions: 2007–08^{[citation needed]}
  • Runners-up: 2010–11^{[citation needed]}
• Under 15 Regionalliga Süd
  • Champions: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16^{[citation needed]}
• ^‡ Won by reserve team.^{[citation needed]}

Recent coaches of the club:^[35]

Start	End	Coach
1979	1982	Helmut Zuber
1982	1982	Meinard Stadelbauer
1982	1984	Rudi Ebel
1984	1985	Klaus Keller
1986	1989	Helmut Jedele
1989	1990	Gerhard Boll
1990	1992	Egon Ludwig
1992	1994	Hans Schreiner
1994	1998	Roland Schmitt
1998	1998	Alfred Schön
1998	14 March 1999	Raimund Lietzau
15 March 1999	30 September 1999	Günter Hillenbrand
31 August 1999	12 March 2000	Riko Weigand
2000	30 June 2000	Alfred Schön
1 July 2000	19 November 2005	Hansi Flick
19 November 2005	23 December 2005	Roland Dickgießer*
10 January 2006	21 May 2006	Lorenz-Günther Köstner
24 May 2006	30 June 2006	Alfred Schön*
1 July 2006	1 January 2011	Ralf Rangnick
2 January 2011	30 June 2011	Marco Pezzaiuoli
1 July 2011	9 February 2012	Holger Stanislawski
10 February 2012	3 December 2012	Markus Babbel
3 December 2012	31 December 2012	Frank Kramer*
1 January 2013	2 April 2013	Marco Kurz
2 April 2013	26 October 2015	Markus Gisdol
26 October 2015	10 February 2016	Huub Stevens
11 February 2016	30 June 2019	Julian Nagelsmann
1 July 2019	9 June 2020	Alfred Schreuder
10 June 2020	26 July 2020	Matthias Kaltenbach*
27 July 2020	17 May 2022	Sebastian Hoeneß
24 May 2022	6 February 2023	André Breitenreiter
8 February 2023		Pellegrino Matarazzo

*As caretaker coach.

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:^[36][37]

Key

• With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. In 2012, the number of Regionalligas was increased from three to five with all Regionalliga Süd clubs except the Bavarian ones entering the new Regionalliga Südwest.^{[citation needed]}

Hoffenheim made their debut in European competition in 2017, qualifying for the play-off round of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League play-offs. Their first match was on 15 August 2017, losing the first leg of the play-offs 2–1 to Liverpool.

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Result
2017–18	UEFA Champions League	PO	Liverpool	1–2	2–4	3–6
	UEFA Europa League	GS	Braga	1–2	1–3	4th
			Ludogorets Razgrad	1–1	1–2
			İstanbul Başakşehir	3–1	1–1
2018–19	UEFA Champions League	GS	Shakhtar Donetsk	2–3	2–2	4th
			Manchester City	1–2	1–2
			Lyon	3–3	2–2
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	GS	Gent	4–1	4–1	1st
			Red Star Belgrade	2–0	0–0
			Slovan Liberec	5–0	2–0
		R32	Molde	0–2	3–3	3–5
2024–25	UEFA Europa League	LP

As of 8 April 2021^[38]

Rank	Team	Points
61	Gent	26.500
62	Anderlecht	25.000
63	1899 Hoffenheim	23.000
64	Astana	22.500
65	Standard Liège	22.000

As of 2 May 2024 Most appearances for the club Rank Name Career Appearances 1 Oliver Baumann 2014–present 363 2 Sebastian Rudy 2010–2017 2019–2023 327 3 Andrej Kramarić 2016–present 281 4 Pavel Kadeřábek 2015–present 253 – Sejad Salihović 2006–2015 249 6 Andreas Beck 2008–2015 237 7 Kevin Vogt 2016–2024 226 8 Marcel Throm 2000–2008 205 9 Florian Grillitsch 2017–2022 2023–present 179 – Marvin Compper 2008–2013 171

Most goals for the club Rank Name Career Goals 1 Andrej Kramarić 2016–present 132 2 Sejad Salihović 2006–2015 67 3 Vedad Ibišević 2007–2012 54 4 Roberto Firmino 2011–2015 49 5 Thomas Ollhoff 2002–2006 42 6 Demba Ba 2007–2011 40 7 Kevin Volland 2012–2016 36 8 Ihlas Bebou 2019–present 35 9 Christoph Teinert 2000–2003 34 10 Mark Uth 2015–2018 33

• Players in bold are still playing for Hoffenheim.

The women's team started playing in 2006–07 and rushed through^[vague] the lower leagues. The women's team plays at Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion.^[39]

• Grüne, Hardy (2001). Vereinslexikon. Kassel: AGON Sportverlag ISBN 3-89784-147-9

Wikimedia Commons has media related to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.

• Official website (in German)
• Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv historical German domestic league tables (in German)
• TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at Weltfussball.de (in German)
• TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II at Weltfussball.de (in German)
• TSG 1899 Hoffenheim at Vkontakte